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University to hold “The
Emancipation Proclamation in History and Memory” forum Feb. 13

NASHVILLE
(TSU News Service) - Camberleigh Davis can’t wait to see the
Emancipation Proclamation up close when the historic document is
displayed in Nashville Feb. 12-17.

“Its impact is huge,”
said the junior History major from Tullahoma, Tenn.

“It led to black people
being free and even how my own family was able to cope with
prejudice.”

A child of bi-racial
descent, Davis
said the document holds a very significant place in her life, even
though she did not fully understand its meaning and impact until
college.

“I feel that the
Emancipation Proclamation made the way for even my parents to get
married and not continue to be harassed as a mixed-race couple,” she
said. “To see the actual proclamation will really be something.”

More than just seeing the
Emancipation Proclamation, Davis, her professors and fellow students
hope the document isn’t just a somber look backward at a milestone
in American history but an invigorating guide for today’s
challenges.

That is why in addition
to taking students and faculty to see the display, the Department of
History, Political Science, Geography, and Africana Studies has
planned a presentation with the Department of Language and
Literature on Feb. 13, to mark the 150th
anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation.

Under the theme, “The
Emancipation Proclamation in History and Memory,” the forum, which
will be held in Research and Sponsored Programs Room 163 at 12:40 p.m.,
is intended to coincide with the celebration of African-American
History Month in February.

“It’s been 150 years
since Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to end
slavery yet there are still vestiges of racism and inequality in
America,” said Dr. Michael T. Bertrand, Associate Professor of
History, who has done extensive research on the Emancipation
Proclamation and the 13th Amendment.

He said America’s
history as a nation of freedom and liberty is tainted with the cloud
of slavery.

“Ending slavery through
civil war allowed a compromised country to claim the ideals
initially envisaged, and acknowledging this trouble legacy moves the
nation forward toward justice,” Dr. Bertrand said.

He claimed that if
President Lincoln had a special quality, it was his ability to help
various sides agree on the Emancipation Proclamation, adding that as
someone who changed over time, Lincoln came to conclude that “the
only way to save the union” was to end slavery.

“I think Lincoln was a
product of his time and someone who could lead,” Bertrand said. “He
brought people to the signing of the document and finally let them
know that the war was about ending slavery because as a nation of
freedom, the rest of the world was looking at us.”

But with all of this
information, are students really in tune with the history and
reality of the time to be able to fully discern the meaning of the
Emancipation Proclamation?

Dr. Sheri Browne,
Associate Professor of History, says, “Yes!”

“We really put in a lot
of effort to try to communicate the importance of the Emancipation
Proclamation and the Reconstruction Amendments,” she said. “I think
many of us (professors) are usually surprised how little student
know about the intent, the motivations and the difficulties
President Lincoln face at the time.

“Many students don’t have
a very good knowledge of what the Emancipation Proclamation really
did. And so it is up to us to present the document and to help
provide context and engage students in the discussion about that.”

Kirk Taylor, a junior
History major from Portland, Tenn., who also knew very little about
American history before college, especially on the Emancipation
Proclamation, said TSU has given him the tool
s to better understand the history of America’s cultural
diversity.

“I chose TSU because I
wanted to know more,” Taylor said. “The history department has
helped me to understand that the Emancipation Proclamation was the
starting point for people to realize the need for equality for
everyone.”

For Davis, whose (white)
grand father disowned her mother because she married a black man,
seeing the document that reversed the course of history will bring
her full circle.

“Fortunately, the rest of
the family accepted it (the marriage) because it was not in their
culture any more to hate black people or not like them, and I think
the Emancipation Proclamation had a lot to do with that,” Davis
said. I can’t wait to see it.”

Dr. Browne could not hide
her excitement either about being able to see the actual document.

“I show a lot of images
of these things all the time in class, but to actually see the text
and see the signature of Abraham Lincoln will really help our
students see that the past is living,” she said.

“To see the real document
and not just a facsimile is important to bring history alive in many
ways that is actually real and not a story from the past,” Dr.
Bertrand added.

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is
Nashville’s only public university and is a comprehensive, urban,
coeducational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22
graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20
ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according
to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top
universities in the county by Washington Monthly for social
mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912 Tennessee
State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012.
Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.